Poem: The Circus
by Cheyenna
Summary: A long poem about how much fun you can have at the circus.


My name is Opal, and I'm a freak of nature. That's what I've always thought, and people react in ways that support my thought. All my life, even as a girl, I've had the ability to bend my body in ways that you had never thought possible. Instead of showing every friend I've been able to keep for this long, I have turned those abilities into dancing. I started taking gymnastics and ballet as a little girl to make myself feel semi-normal. My name doesn't help my low self-esteem at all and it most likely never will.

I'm a thin girl. I have strawberry blonde hair that travels halfway down my back, smooth pale skin, high cheek bones, and grey-blue eyes. I remind myself of a model, and it sickens me. Those girls who wish they were model material really don't know how lucky they are to have so much bone. Instead of cover girl posters covering my walls, I have pictures of plumper or curvier women on my wall. I'm always eating constantly, even with my gymnast, dance instructor, and parents' scorn. Even so, I never gain any wait. Not even a pound. I sicken myself; I look like I'm anorexic.

I keep writing in my journal about how sickening I am, and then it occurs to me how messed up I must sound. I slowly set the pen down and close the journal, frowning. I slumped at my desk, resting my forehead against the backs of my hands. A tap on my bedroom door made me straighten up right away. "Opal?" my mother called gently as she opened the door.

"Hi, mom," I said, pushing away from my desk to stand up.

"Honey, will you go into town for me? I need you to pick up some things."

"Okay." I walked across the room and grabbed a hair tie to put my hair up with. I turned and met my mother's gaze. She was looking at my body again. I knew she was seeing through my tee shirt and jean shorts, imagining how frail I was, like a toothpick. "You're doing it again," I said as I slid on a pair of flip flops.

"What do you mean, Opal?"

"Nothing," I said quietly as I slid past her, taking the money she was holding out. "I'll be back." I trotted down the stairs and headed out the door, turning down the street. I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked silently, looking down at the pavement. We only lived a mile outside of town, and she had a car. She must have been busy. I kicked a small rock as I continued walking. I wish I had grabbed my music player before leaving.

A short time later, I was in town, but the market was on the opposite side. I sighed loudly, drawing a woman's attention to me who happened to be passing by. She gave a tight smile and walked on, seeming to have a bad day as well. I looked around at the empty yards, which were usually filled with playing children. It was unusually quiet today in this part of town.

I hurriedly walked on until I reached the market, which seemed to be vacant today as well. I looked around until I spotted a crowd. I walked toward them until I couldn't get any closer to whatever they were swarming toward.

"What's all the fuss about?" I ask, lifting up as far as my toes could take me.

A woman who happened to be walking by, perked up and said, "Why, it's the circus! _Everyone_ loves a good show, darling." A smile formed, bringing my attention to a beauty mark just to the right of her lower lip. She was a beautiful woman, in her early twenties, I guessed. Her eyes were nearly hypnotizing as she held my gaze for a short time. "Don't you agree?"

"Ah…" I blinked and tore my gaze away for a moment. "Yes, I suppose." I held my hands in front of me, clasping them together in a shy mood.

The woman stepped back from the line that was gathering and held out her arm as if she were an escort. "I shall take you inside the wondrous tent then!"

A hint of excitement filled my gut, and then curiosity settled over it. I took her arm while letting my gaze pass down her body. She must have been part of the circus, I realized. She had a white blouse with black and red suspenders connecting to a pair of _very_ short shorts, a black coat with a short tail, net stockings, and a pair of heels to match. My mouth opened slightly, by nothing came out. I looked back up and met her gaze again. She was smiling beautifully and I swear my heart stopped beating. I swallowed, feeling somewhat uneasy as we strode closer to the tent. Her beautiful face was framed nicely by shoulder length brown curly hair, and with that, as I just noticed, she was wearing a small top hat.

"Do you like what you see?" She asked me teasingly, her smile looking almost flirtatious.

"No!" I said automatically to my surprise. "I mean…" I blushed deeply, looking down. "You're very pretty."

"As are you, my dear," she replied. I looked back up and saw she was being honest. I didn't think I was pretty at all. Without thinking, I brought my hand to my cheek to feel my smooth skin. She chuckled under her breath and looked ahead. "Here we are!" She stretched out her arm and opened the tent for us, people lining up inside as well to crowd the stands.

Almost as soon as we stepped inside, we were greeted by two girls. They were obviously twins, and I guessed they had to be at least fourteen. They had their arms linked, almost mirroring us, and they seemed to make the same movements at the same time. "Lady!" they exclaimed together.

"Hello, girls," she replied with a kind expression. I couldn't help but glance at her with a light blush. "Are the preparations going smoothly?"

"Yes, ma'am!" they replied enthusiastically.

"Good, good." She pulled me gently along as the twins led the way.

"What are their names?" I asked under my breath.

"Esmeralda and Matilda," she answered.

I watched as their frail looking bodies strode in front of us. Neither of them had much curve and both of them had blonde hair, probably long, but kept it up in buns. They were fair skinned, like herself and like this woman next to her. "What about yours?" I asked next.

"You may call me Lady Payne."

"Payne doesn't sound at all like you," I noted, smiling a little sheepishly.

"How sweet of you," she exclaimed softly with a smile as beautiful as the full moon. Watching her kept a blush on my cheeks. "What's your name, my dear?"

"I don't like my name…" I said sheepishly. "But, it's Opal."

"Opal," she repeated as if to test the name against her soft, plump, red lips. I licked my lips without much thought and it made me blush once I'd realized my reaction. "Well, Opal, I was wondering, are you a dancer?" I almost stopped, but forced myself to keep moving forward. She must have noticed me when I'd been standing on my toes to peer over the crowd earlier.

"Yes," I answered. "Not the best, but yes."

"And there's more to it?" She made the question sound more like a statement. She lifted her eyebrow ever so slightly as she spoke.

"A little…"

"Well, out with it then," she encouraged.

"It's hard to explain."

Lady Payne's expression changed slightly. It wasn't disappointment, but excitement. "Then you'll just have to show me." Her smile was mischievous. I didn't know what to think. Just in time, we reached the other side of the tent, where there was another opening with a rather large, very muscular man standing in front of it with a wooden mallet balanced on his shoulder. He looked like he was in his thirties, growing a thick black mustache and thick black hair that nearly fell to his shoulders. He nodded at Lady Payne as he stepped aside for the twins. "Hello, Maximus," she greeted him with a nod back. He smiled faintly as we walked past and caught my eye. I blushed and hurriedly looked away.

Once we entered the second tent, Lady Payne was greeted by several other people. There were women putting on makeup, men gathering props, and even a clown balancing himself on a unicycle. Lady Payne greeted them all at once and led me to a vacant corner of the tent, splitting away from the twins as they giggled and grabbed different sorts of makeup and tutus. I wondered what their talent was.

"So, here you will show me," Lady Payne said, letting go of my arm and stepping back. She crossed her arms and smiled at me patiently. I looked past her toward the group of people, some of them looking back in curiosity. Lady Payne turned and followed my gaze, then slowly grabbed a curtain that I hadn't noticed before and pulled it across until their faces were gone from my sight.

I blushed shyly and said, "Thank you." Lady Payne nodded and swept her arm before her as if to encourage me to show her. I nodded and took a breath. "I can… Fold myself?" I said it more as a question. She tilted her head, curiosity mixing with her lovely smile. "Um…" I sat on the ground, which was covered with hay, and placed my arms between my legs, toes pointed out. Slowly, I lifted my right leg and let it keep going, careful of my head at first, and then I bent my knee. My leg folded itself there, barely resting on my shoulder. I did the same with my left leg, and then leaned forward, lifting myself with my hands until I was doing a handstand. I felt like a freak, having her watch me. I couldn't help my blush as I began to walk in a small circle on my hands.

Suddenly the curtain pulled back, but I knew I couldn't unwind my body so suddenly. I forced myself to stay calm and let my toes touch the ground, lowering myself onto them with my arms, until finally I was standing upside down like a folded chair. I could hear murmurs beyond Lady Payne, so slowly while blushing, I began to reverse my act. I lifted myself onto my hands once again and unfolded my legs until I was doing a normal handstand. I heard applause as I moved my legs forward, then pushed my hands from the ground to stand normally once again.

When I looked at Lady Payne, she was smiling brilliantly, one of the people who were applauding my act. I didn't know how to react. Should I smile, or should I bow? I could only stand there, my face red with embarrassment. "That was great," I heard a deep voice say. I looked past Lady Payne and saw Maximus peering through the second tent's entrance.


End file.
